A PROMISE TO KEEP: 5%
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A Ballot Committee of
Citizens for Limited Taxation & Government
PO Box 408 * Peabody, MA 01960
Phone:(617) 248-0022 /(508) 538-3900 E-Mail: cltg@cltg.org
Visit our web-page at: http://cltg.org
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*** Promise Update ***
Saturday, October 11, 1997

"Unmet Needs" and Taxes

I had an interesting experience this week that addresses one of the issues in our proposal to roll back the income tax rate to its previous 5 percent, as promised when it was passed as a "temporary" tax increase.

I was a guest on Malden Cable-TV's "Malden This Week," a very popular local cable program hosted by conservative Jim Dello Russo (a CLT&G member and petitioner) and Cheryl Garrity ("Attorney and President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization for Women," her resume read, and an unabashed ultra-liberal), to discuss the CLT&G "A Promise to Keep: 5%" income tax rollback. The producer later described the program as one of the most lively he'd ever seen.

Cheryl and I squared off from the outset, and I could never have found a better foil for a public debate!

Right out of the box, Cheryl wanted to keep the billion-dollar surplus to "fulfill unmet needs," excusing the "temporary" promise to "a previous Legislature and legislators who should not be held to it because they didn't make it."

I explained that her extreme liberal philosophy is precisely why Citizens for Limited Taxation last year expanded its mission by adding "& Government" to its title.

I pointed out (to the viewing audience) that it was the always increasing tax burden that led to always increasing "unmet needs" as more and more taxpayers -- parents -- found themselves less and less able to provide for their *own* needs and those of their families -- their children -- as more and more of their disposable income was confiscated by governments at all levels, their income now reduced by almost half today.

Naturally, with almost half their income taken by government, and with taxpayers less able to afford to take care of their own needs, they look to government to fill the gap, because that's where their money is.

"Unmet needs" are created in large part by confiscatory taxation.

Confiscatory taxation leads to an increasing pressure on "unmet needs."

The cost to fulfill the increased needs is afforded by increased taxation -- leading to further "unmet needs".

The dog is eating its tail!

"So where does it end, Cheryl?" I asked. "When is enough enough? In your perfect world, how much of my income should I be allowed to keep? Could I keep the fifty percent I now have, or should that be reduced to forty percent? Would you prefer that I survive on only twenty-five percent, or perhaps ten? Don't you see that this would create even more 'unmet needs' just so I could have a roof over my head and a meal on my table?"

She wouldn't answer my question directly -- but if she did, you can imagine her reply! I'll bet the audience saw the light though.

This was such a great opportunity!

Chip Ford --


Thank you mall volunteers! Today (Saturday), Sunday and (for the most part) Monday, our volunteers have petition tables set up in the following fifteen locations across the state:

Auburn Mall (Auburn)
Burlington Mall (Burlington)
Cape Cod Mall (Hyannis)
Dedham Mall (Dedham)
Fairfield Mall (Chicopee)
Greendale Mall (Worcester)
Hanover Mall (Hanover)
Holyoke Mall at Ingleside (Holyoke)
Independence Mall (Kingston)
Liberty Tree Mall (Danvers)
Natick Mall (Natick)
North Shore Mall (Peabody)
South Shore Mall (Braintree)
Square One Mall (Saugus)
Westgate Mall (Brockton)

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You can e-mail A Promise to Keep: 5% at --> cltg@cltg.org
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